SPAN 418 The Evolution of Spanish

In SPAN 418, we explore how Latin, perhaps the most famous dead language, never truly died. In fact, when we speak Spanish, we are speaking a modern, evolved form of Latin. Through an examination of the history of the Spanish language, we will gain an understanding of how the sounds, structures, and words of Latin evolved into what we call Spanish over the past two millennia. Students will become acquainted with issues in the study of language change, focusing on Spanish sound changes and grammatical developments. We will also explore how historical context and social aspects affect those developments while investigating written sources for the footprints of Spanish on its 2000-year journey.